The Minister of Corrections has released a report into the spending on iwi consultation for the new prisons.
The report confirms that iwi consultation for the Spring Hill facility, which generated initial interest, is in line with the requirement to consult under the Resource Management Act, but also highlights that Corrections could have obtained better value for money for some of the services delivered.
Other points to consider when reading the report include:
- Corrections has taken a very broad view of consultation, and that the $1.5 million figure for SHCF actually includes things like professional services for architects.
- The consultation process for Spring Hill has been successful so far - Corrections’ applications for planning approval have held up to the rigours of a 17-day designation and resource consent hearing, which is a testament to the high quality of the technical data and the robustness of our consultation with Maori and non-Maori alike.
